Ofsted framework unfairly penalises inclusive schools

School leaders’ union NAHT has released new analysis of Ofsted’s inspections under its new framework, finding that the likelihood of a ‘needs attention’ judgement for ‘achievement’ or ‘attendance and behaviour’ is significantly higher for schools serving areas of high deprivation or with a higher proportion of pupils with special educational needs.

Reviewing the final reports of more than 650 inspections, the analysis shows that a third (33%) of schools with ‘above average’ pupil eligibility for free school meals have received a ‘needs attention’ judgement for ‘achievement’, compared to less than one in five (18%) schools with ‘below average’ pupil eligibility for free school meals.
 
Almost one in four (23%) schools with ‘above average’ pupil eligibility for free school meals have received a ‘needs attention’ judgement for ‘attendance and behaviour’, compared to one in ten (10%) schools with ‘below average’ pupil eligibility for free school meals.
 
One in five (20%) schools with ‘above average’ numbers of pupils with special educational needs received a ‘needs attention’ judgement for ‘attendance and behaviour’, compared to one in ten (9%) schools with ‘below average’ numbers of pupils with special educational needs.
 
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary said: “For a long time there have been well-founded concerns that successive Ofsted frameworks have penalised schools serving communities with higher levels of deprivation. Rather than fix that issue, the new framework appears to have compounded it.
 
“The latest inspection handbook states that to get the ‘expected’ standard, performance measures must meet or be above the national average. Most primary age pupils would immediately spot this as a mathematical howler. It is an impossible demand of schools. While it may not have been Ofsted’s intention, the expectation that results meet crude statistical averages means that schools serving the most deprived communities face an uphill battle.
 
“There is no lack of ambition on the part of school leaders – they all want every individual pupil and student to achieve the very best outcomes they are capable of. But we also have to recognise that, due to context, for some schools that is a significantly greater challenge than others. Recognising the challenges and barriers to pupils’ progress is to engage with their lived reality. It does not signal any kind of ‘bigotry of low expectations,’ as Ofsted’s HM Chief Inspector has claimed.
 
“Under Ofsted’s system, schools may do an incredible job in helping pupils who face all manner of challenges in their lives to progress from a poor starting point but still be marked down if overall test scores are below national averages. It’s hard to imagine anything more demoralising for leaders and teachers.
 
“Not only are these lower grades unfair for schools that operate in more deprived areas, they also actively penalise those that are more inclusive for pupils with SEND. Furthermore, it risks discouraging leaders and teachers from going to work in the very schools that need them the most. This should ring serious alarm bells for the government’s stated White Paper ambition for more pupils with SEND to be educated in mainstream schools.”
 
School leaders will be debating and voting on motions relating to Ofsted at NAHT’s Annual Conference in Belfast this weekend (1-2 May), including a call for ‘urgent, meaningful reform of the inspection system'.